Some benefits of tummy tuck

that surprised us!

According to new research published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, there are some surprising benefits of tummy tuck surgery that we’re just starting to put our fingers on. Sometimes those benefits include increases in confidence and self-esteem, but those are well documented. Some of the surprising benefits include improvements in back pain or incontinence–two issues that we’re not used to think of tummy tuck as the solution to.

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Surprising Benefits of Tummy Tuck Surgery

The aesthetic improvements conjured by abdominoplasty are well known. But there are some surprising benefits of tummy tuck surgery that go beyond a more slender-looking tummy. According to the most recent issues of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, tummy tuck surgery can actually help with two issues often associated with aging: incontinence and back pain.

Some Surprising Benefits of Tummy Tuck Surgery

We’ll explain, exactly, how this happens a little bit later. And that explanation is warranted because this isn’t usually something that people expect. A tummy tuck is designed to remove excess skin from around the belly and add structure to the abdominal muscles. Most patients undergo this procedure because they want to achieve a pre-pregnancy body or complete a post-weight loss transformation.

That there are some surprising benefits of tummy tuck surgery in addition to the aesthetic benefits is only an added bonus. So how do these surprising benefits stack up, and where do they come from? That’s what we’re going to find out!

Surprising Benefit #1: Improvement with Incontinence

It’s funny, we don’t typically talk about incontinence on this blog. It’s not a topic that comes up very often, in part because this is an entertainment blog, and incontinence isn’t necessarily something anyone wants to think about. But it is a fact of aging. For those that don’t know, incontinence is essentially the loss of bladder control. Most people experience some degree of incontinence at some point in life. Pregnancy and childbirth can both make incontinence more pronounced.

That’s because muscles tend to control many of those functions. Pregnancy wears down the muscles–weakens them, essentially. But part of a tummy tuck involves providing added structure to abdominal muscles. Those muscles don’t have to work quite so hard to stay fit and firm. And this, according to the study from Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery seems to have a benefit in terms of making it easier to contract muscles and control incontinence.

Surprising Benefit #2: Decreased Back Pain

And that ties in to the second surprising benefit of a tummy tuck procedure. The study published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that many patients reported a decrease in back pain after recovery from the procedure was complete. Because tummy tucks are designed to eliminate excess tissue around the abdomen, this was definitely an unexpected result.

But I think it can be explained by the same basic phenomenon as the improvements in incontinence control. The answer to this benefit lies in the added structure provided to abdominal muscles during a tummy tuck.

Much back pain, after all, is caused by poor posture. And sometimes that poor posture is caused or exacerbated by waning core strength–by weakened abdominal muscles. Again, this is particularly prevalent among women who have given birth (or been pregnancy). But it’s also relatively common among anyone as they happen to age. The back pain that results from those weakened muscles is also common.

When surgeons go in to provide added structure, the muscles don’t have to work as hard. And that means less back pain.

The Typical Benefits of a Tummy Tuck

These surprising benefits of a tummy tuck procedure are usually recounted in addition to the more typical benefits of this particular surgery. Abdominoplasty procedures are primarily designed, after all, to help the tummy look more slender and fit. In order to do that, excess skin is removed from the belly and the abdominal muscles are provided with extra structure.

The typical results of this procedure is a tummy that looks firmer and flatter. For many patients who have recently lost weight, this procedure represents the culmination of their weight loss transformation. For patients who developed excess skin thanks to pregnancy, a tummy tuck represents a return to their youth.

That’s why this procedure often produces the benefits of increases in confidence and self esteem. In other words, patients who want a tummy tuck and who get a tummy tuck tend to look good and feel good.

Results May Vary

That’s not to say that every patient is going to receive all of these benefits every time–surprising and traditional alike. And there are certainly less invasive ways to treat incontinence and back pain. However, it’s worth noting these benefits because it sure is nice when procedures over deliver on something.

Your results will vary, of course. Every patient is unique and everybody heals at a different rate. But the more benefits you can look forward to, the more “worth it” you might consider your tummy tuck procedure. And the surprising benefits of tummy tuck surgery tend to be all the more welcome because of they are unexpected.